Roller side bearing for car-trucks.



I PATENTED APE.14, 190.3. E'. s. woons. ROLLER SIDE BEARING FOR GAR TRUCKS.

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PATENTED APR. 14, 1903.

E. S. WOODS. ROLLER SIDE BEARING FOR GAR TRUCKS.

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EEEEEEEEEEEEEE UNITED" STAT S PATENT ()rrrcni EDWIN s. woons, on on'IoAeo, ILLlNOIS, ASSIGYNORI OF ONE-HALF TO SAMUEL WORTHINGTON MOMUNN, OF oruoAeoi mNoIs.

ROLLERSIQDE BEARING FO-R CAR-TRUCKS. 7

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 725,388, datedApri114, 1Q03.. "Applic'atidn filed eptember 2, 1902. Serial No. 1211716. (No modem I To all whom it may concern Be it known that I EDWIN S. WOODS, of Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new anduse ful Improvements in Roller Side Bearings for:

Oar-Trucks and I do hereby declare that. the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, which forma part of this specification. v

This invention relatesto improvements in roller side bearingsfor railway-cars; and the invention consists inthe matters hereinafter set forth, and'moreparticularly pointed out in the appendedclaims.

In' the drawings, Figure' l illustrates the manner of applying myinvention to the car and truck bolster of a railway-car. Fig.2 is a longitudinal vertical section of the upper bearing member and rollers, showing the lower bearingmember in side elevation. Fig.1

3 is a bottom plan view of the npper'bea'riug member. Fig. 4 is a cross-section thereof. Fig. 5 is an axial section of one of the rollers.

Fig. dis a view, partly in longitudinal 'vertical section and partly in side elevation, of a modified form of bearing.

In said drawings, A represents a portion of the body-bolster of a car, and B the 'c'or're sponding part of the truck. Said-:truckds provided with a bearing member or'pl'ate' 0, having an upwardly-facing bearing-surface cand is attached to the upper "side of the truck-bolster; Vertically above said bear ing-plate and attachedto the under side of the body-bolster by bolts (1 is a bearing member or'plate D, having a downwardly-facing bearing-surface d. p r

E E designatea plurality of rollers, which are adapted for peripheral rolling engagement with said upper and lower bearing-sum faces and through which a portion of the weight of the car istra'nsmitted to the truck. A complete equipment of the side bearings for a car consists of one set of bearings on each side of each truck or four bearings for each car,

thereby constituting, in connection with the center. plates, six points of support for each car. 7

The upper'bea'ring members or platesD D,

as, herein shown, have the form of casings,

which receive the bearing-rollers E, each of said members. being'provided with side ,parts or parallel verticalfiauges d d which may be connected by end parts'or "flanges d (i The rollers E rotate on horizontal axes normally perpendicular to the planes of said side:

flanges. The side flanges are provided on their inner, faces with longitudinal ways or channels D D,and the rollersE are" provided with oppositely-extending trunnions e, which.

extend'into said channelsand have guiding.

engagement therewith. Saidchannels-are of sufficient depth to give clearance beyond the ends of the trunnions and are of greater width between thejcenter lines of the channelsD Q and the upperbearingsurfaces .are so propor'tioned thatwhen'the peripheries of the than the; trunnion: diameters. 1 The lower' rollers are in contactwith the upper and lower bearing-surfaces the trunnions e are out of contact with thelower walls of said chan-p nels, so'that the weight of the bolster and the parts carried thereby is transmitted to the'bearing member O directly-through the larger parts of the rollers and without bringing stressfupon the trunnions. \Vhen the faces they tend to rotate relatively: to'said surfaces toward the center or'ends of the surfaces, whereby at the next engagementof the surfaces with the roller peripheries new points of contact between saidparts are presented. Such eccentric loading of the rollers is shown For this purpose said rollers are 'ecas effected by coring out the bodies of the rollers between the peripheries'and the axes of rotation thereof to provide longitudinal openings 6, as shown in Figs. 2 and 5. Said cored-out openings are shown as made 'of crescent shape in cross-section. With this construction when either of the rollers is released from the upper and lower bearing-surfaces at a time when the cored-out portion thereof is located at either side of a vertical plane passed through the axisof rotation of the roller the heavier or eccentrically-loaded side of the roller will cause the roller to be rotated to bring it to rest, with the lighter side above its axis of rotation. In this way it is assured that when the rollers are released from the engagement with the upper and lower bearing-surfaces there will always be such movement of the rollers as to insure that all parts of the peripheries will be brought into bearing relation with respect to said upper and lower bearing-surfaces, with a result of uniform wear upon the rollers and bearing plates. 33' reason of the contact of the bearing-surfaces with the roller peripheries in the greatest diameter thereof when load is transmitted to the truck therethrough and the engagement of the trunnions with the channels when the rollers are released from the bearing-surfaces it is assured that the succeeding engagement of each roller with the bearing surfaces after the release of said roller will be a new point of engagement.

One advantage of the construction just described is that the roller or rollers do not tend to gravitate toward a given position in the path thereof and there stop, as when the lower walls of the channel are inclined, and the rollers do not tend, therefore, to produce undue wear upon certain parts of the bear.- ing-surfaces, as when there is a tendency to localize the rollers in their path. On the other hand, owing to the straight paths in which the roller-trunnions travel when the rollers are free from their bearing-surfaces and to the free movement of the rollers governed by the eccentric loading thereof, said rollers (when a plurality thereof are employed for each channel) tend to spread throughout their path, and thereby have contact with all parts of the bearing-surfaces alike. Moreover, for the same reason the rollers do not tend to move in peripheral contact one with the other either during the time they are transmitting load from the car to the truck or at any other time such as would occur should the rollers tend to gravitate toward one part of their path when the peripheries thereof are released from the upper and lower bearingplates. There is little or no tendency, therefore, for the rollers to wear against each other at the peripheries thereof or to impede the rolling action of the rollers by such peripheral contact when weight from the car is being transmitted to the truck therethrough. If desired,

but one roller may be used for each channel,

as shown in Fig. 6; but a plurality of rollers are preferred, inasmuch as they promote the stability of the parts.

The trunnion-channels D are ofsuoh length as to arrest the travel of the outer rollers before the peripheries of said rollers are brought into contact with end flanges of the casing when such end flanges are employed, the curved end walls of the channels constituting stops which engage the trunnions to arrest the travel of the rollers. This construction prevents peripheral contact between the surfaces of the rollers and the end flanges of the casing, which would obviously result in a greater impediment to the rotation of the rollers than would be caused by the frictional contact between the trunnions and the end surfaces of the channels.

In order to permit the insertion of the rollertrunnions in the channels D, the side flanges d are provided centrally thereof witlrupwardly-opening notches or grooves which intersect the channels. Then the rollersare inserted in place, the trunnions thereof pass through said vertical notches, and the rollers are prevented from accidentally dropping out of place by means of suitable stopblocks G, located across said openings and held in place therein by means of pins g, extending through the blocks and flanges in the manner clearly shown in Figs. 3 and i.

In equipping a car with a set of side bearings made in accordance with my invention therollers may be set originally in contact with the upper and lower bearing-surfaces and remain normally in contact therewith, or said rollers may be set to be normally out of contact with the upper and lower bearingsurfaces and to be brought into contact therewith when the car or truck is tilted, as when the car is passing around a curve. The former equipment is illustrated in the drawings. In the first-mentioned arrangement the car rides on the rollers until it strikes a curve,

at which time therollers of diagonally opposite bearings are released by reason of slight separation of the bearing-surfaces, the other two rollers being at this time in rolling contact with their bearing-surfaces and trans niitting weight brought thereon to the truck. l/Vhen said diagonally opposite rollers arereleased, the trunnions thereof fall upon the lower walls of the trunnion-channels D, and by reason of the eccentric loading of the rollers said rollers shift until the greatest weight thereof is below their axes and are in position to present new points of contact to the bearing-surfaces when again engaged therewith.

In the second arrangement named the rollers are free to adjust them-selves in their paths of movement when the car is on straight track; but when the carer truck tilts, as in passing around a curve, one or more of the bearings are brought into action to afford a rollerbearing between the trucks and car. Vhen the car again passes to straight track, the..rollers are freed from peripheral contact with the upper and lower hearing-surfaces and are again at liberty to adjust themselves, as will be determined by the eccentric loading of the rollers.

I do not wish to be limited to the specific structural details shown, except as hereinafter made the subject of specific claims. For instance, the ways for the roller-trunnions need not betrue channels so long as the essential features of said ways set forth in the claims are preserved;

I claim as my invention- 1. A side bearing for railway-cars comprising upper and lower bearing members having normally parallel bearing-surfaces, one or more rollers adaptedfor rolling contact with said upper and lower bearing-surfaces, the upper member having side parts provided with channels and the roller or rollers being provided with trunnions which occupy said channels, said channels having straight lower walls, substantially parallel with the upper bearing-surface and the trunnions being'ou't of contact with the lower walls of the channels when the roller or rollers have peripheral contact with said upper and lower bearingsurfaoes, and adapted to rest and roll on the lower Walls of the channels when said upper and lower bearing-surfaces are out of contact with the roller or rollers.

2. A side bearing for railway-cars comprisin g upperand lowerbearing members having normally parallel bearing surfaces, one or more eccentrically loaded rollers adapted for rolling contact with said upper and lower bearing-surfaces, the upper member having side parts provided with channels, and the roller or rollers being provided with trunnions which occupy said channels, said trunnions being out of contact with the lower walls of the channels when the roller or rollers have peripheral contact with said upper and lower bearing-surfaces, and in contact with the lower walls'of the channels When the upper and lower bearing-surfaces are out of peripheral contact with the roller or rollers;

normally parallel bearing surfaces, one or more rollers adapted for rolling contact with said upper and lower bearing-surfaces, the;

upper member having side parts provided with channels and the roller or rollers being provided with trunnions 'which-occupysa'id channels, said channels having straight lower Walls,'substantially parallel with the upper mentof the roller or rollers withrespect to the bearing-surfaces.

4. "A side bearing for railway-cars comprising upper and lower bearingmembers having normally parallel bearing-surfaces, 'oneor more rollers adapted for rolling contact withsaid upper and lower bearing-surfaces, each roller being provided between its axis of'rotation and its periphery with a cored-out recess, the upper member-having side, parts provided with channels, and the roller or rollers being provided with trunnions which occupy said channels, said trunnions'bei'ng'out of contact with the lower walls of thechan nels when the roller or rollers have peripheral contactwith said u pperandlower bearing-surfaces, and in contact with the lower walls of the channels when the upper and lower bearing-surfaces are out of peripheral contact with the'rol'ler or rollers. a

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention 1 affix my signature; in -presence of two witnesses,"this19th day of August, A. D. 1902'. a

EDWIN S. WOODS.

Witnesses: 4

'WILLIAM L. HALL,

GEORGE R. WILKINS. 

